RESURGENCE OR REVENGE ?

Team India it is time to forget about the DJ’s, cheerleaders, three hour matches in form of Champions League and time to resurge the national cricket team to the top again. The series against England at home is the chance the players should have been waiting for to restore the pride of the nation.  Although missing a few stars it in an opportunity for some youngsters to shine and resurge Indian cricket. 

The task seems harder with the few of the senior players ruled out due to injury. It is time to move forward and use injuries as excuses. At home India has always been formidable and the youngsters have to play with pride and use their experience in home conditions.  People have been claiming this as the “revenge” series but it should be noted as “resurgence” series. 

There are three players for whom this series will prove pivotal and could well open the door for them in the longer format. 

Ajinkya Rahane

Akinkya Rahane continued his good form with another 100 in Irani trophy last week and needs to make this series count. The 30’s and 40’s in England were impressive but now he has experience at the elite level, he has to convert them into big scores.  Important lesson for Rahane is to ensure he bats the way he does in four day matches, that is by playing authentic cricket shots and batting for long time. Rahane has good technique and for opening batsman is very good against spin bowling, so to bat all 50 over’s should be the objective. The stage is set not for a cameo but for lead role.

Ravichandran Ashwin

To many people he is the best spinner in the country. With the selectors dropping Harbhajan it is time for him to prove he can lead the attack. The most important aspect for Ashwin is to prove he can be a wicket taker and not just an economical bowler.  Ashwin troubled the English batsman on the dry wicket at the Oval and at home he will relish the chance to bowl at them.  Another great benefit for Ashwin is trust his captain has him to deliver at the critical stages.  If he can back up his captain again by performing while the match hangs in the balance, a test debut would not be far away. 

Umesh Yadav

Last donned the tri colours in Zimbabwe about 18months ago and failed to impress many but has coming along long way in last 18 months. Umesh Yadav has changed his action and can now ball a good outswinger at decent pace. In the Irani trophy last week, he was definitely the most impressive bowler on a flat deck.  Yadav did the hard yards by bowling long spells in Emerging tour down under and went under the radar as the focus was on Varun Aaron.  Yadav might go for runs but he is definite wicket taker and if he can pick up wickets and continue to bow at 140 plus he could have his second trip to Australia end of the year.   

 It is only mid October but the domestic and the international cricket season ahead is perhaps the most anticipated one in India after a long time. The retirement of the seniors on the horizon, injury list, player selections, tour of Australia and chance to view into the future of Indian cricket makes it exciting season ahead. It all starts in couple of days against England and it this series is to start the resurgence not a revenge. 

BACK INTO THE FUTURE

In July 1996 at the home of cricket, Lords, a place where people are immaculately dressed, the pavilion is hertiage building, good leave outside the off stump is appreciated, and the perfect technique is respected, Indian great Rahul Dravid made his debut.  No other cricketer over the past 15 years would have been better suited to the customs at Lords.  At that point in time had Rahul Dravid sat in the time machine and gone forward 15 years, he may have wondered what a debut for Rahul Dravid would be like in the current age of cricket? Well, during his brief twenty20 debut innings he had a vision of it only 15 yards down the pitch.

On the other end was young man from Mumbai in Ajinkya Rahane. The Mumbaikar is almost the same age that Dravid was when he made his debut in the conventional  scene at Lords, but this was Rahane’s  debut  in the perfect scene of modern day cricket – 20 over matches, coloured clothing, the dot ball is booed, edge over the keeper is appreciated and batsmen make a mockery of perfect technique.   Apart from the different settings, there was an immediate impact and there was a parallel between both of these cricketers at the same age.

Although Rahane was in coloured clothing and making his debut in twenty20 cricket, there were glimpses in his batting that showed he is the old style modern day cricketer.

More importantly, Rahane was the student of Mumbai batsmanship and proved himself in the domestic circuit in four-day matches.  The term “four day” is emphasised as this is the missing recipe for selectors when it comes to any format of cricket. In fact, Rahane has a record so impressive that only three batsman in the history of first class cricket average more than Rahane –  Vijay Merchant, Don Bradman and George Headley. 

Rahane, a lad from Dombivilli, an outer middle class suburb in Mumbai went to a school which only had one practice cricket net  for over 300 kids in the local area. The rise to the top has been a long process of proving his ability in school cricket, club cricket, Kanga league, Mumbai academy and then the Irani and Ranji trophy.  Unlike Rohit Sharma or Suresh Raina, he doesn’t have the flair which is so often needed in modern day cricket to make headlines.  What he lacks in flair is made up in dedication and hard work that has led to solid technique.

In his book  The Winning way,  Harsha Bhogle suggests that  what make Rahul Dravid great is that “he became as good as he can be.”  Dravid was never as talented as Sachin Tendulkar, but it is the dedication to get the best out of himself that allowed him to be as good as Tendulkar.  

Similarly Rahane is  known for spending hours in the nets improving his technique. During the IPL season last year when Shane Warne was asked who was the most hard working batsman, he immediately mentioned Ajinkya Rahane. Warne said, “Every optional training session Rahane would be there batting and constantly working on his technique and concentration,” and the spin whizz mentioned he reminded him a lot of Rahul Dravid in terms of the way “he went about things.”

In the recent Emerging tournament in Australia, at the end of the first day’s play against Australia, Rahane was not out on 71. Rahane had fielded the whole day and opened the batting once the opposition had been bowled out. After walking off the field to applause from his coach, Ajinkya politely asked the coach if he could still have a net session before returning to his hotel.

It showed the devotion of a cricketer who is similar to Darvid in the way he gets the best out of himself.

Rahane is also rated highly by his peers.  While chatting amongst the emerging players in Australia, it was evident the respect Rahane has amongst domestic cricketers. A few players asked Rahane if he remembered the last time he got out in domestic cricket.

Even in his twenty20 innings, all the runs were scored by authentic cricket strokes.  Ajinkya credits this to his batting technique which is the primary focus of Mumbai cricket.  It is imperative the selection committee takes notice of such batting talents in domestic cricket and selects them in correct format. Rahane may have made his mark in twenty20 and 50 over cricket internationally but the success is based on solid four day cricket. Over time Dravid adjusted to 50 over cricket, and the likes of Tendulkar and Kallis have also been successful in twenty20 format.

Having bided his time in the Ranji tropy, the biggest difference is that the players such as Rahane really put a value on their wicket. Rahul Dravid once batted for Karanataka in the Ranji trophy match with a fever but still managed to score a 200 not out. It showed the price Dravid had on his wicket even after playing 10 years of international cricket.

Rahane still strives to improve his record despite having set such a high standard. Rahane achieved another goal last year when he did not get out for a single digit score in Ranji tropy match. Rahane’s march to the top is gathering pace. It is important the selectors let him go at his own pace and don’t change it.

At the end of the day it would be nice to sit in a time machine 15 years from now and make Rahane sit in a time machine and go forward, too.